Two areas of research are proposed. The first explores the impact of vivid health-relevant prevention-oriented communications on helath attitudes and behavior. It also examines whether or not the impact of vivid messages depends upon such factors as the health spohistication of and/or personal relevance of the communication for the recipient. The second line of work will examine how the ability to set goals and make plans predicts successful coping among several groups of chronically ill or disabled patients, including coronary patients, cancer patients, and possibly institutionalized and non-institutionalized spinal cord patients; and rheumatoid arthritics. The correlates of this kind of future-oriented, goal-oriented coping will be identified and eventually used to construct a parallel set of subsequent interventions with a new group of each of these chronic populations.